Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Tattoo Me

I’ve seen a few people asking the same question over the last month: where’s a good place to get a tattoo done in Wellington?

Perhaps this means that a significant proportion of my friends have reached that age where they feel a tattoo is something they should have; or maybe it’s just the usual summer phenomenon of seeing so many people revealing their tattoos that they want their own.

In either case the question remains. Where is the best place in the Capital to “get inked” (a phrase I have yet to hear someone with a tattoo say). So I thought I’d give an account of my recent tattoo experience in Wellington to help others make their decision.

First of all let me say that the best tattooists are found in the same way as the best hairdressers: through word of mouth and by looking at their previous work. So ask people with good-looking tattoos where they got them and who did it. Don’t be shy, most people take it as a compliment that you’d like a tat as good as theirs.

As for my story; I’m merely telling you what happened when I went to get a tattoo recently, feel free follow my advice or to ignore it completely if you like. Or, because it is fairly disparaging of one particular parlour, rail against it with a fiery fury in defence of your favourite tattooist. I don’t mind, I just offer it as it is, my experience:

I have a few tattoos and have been to three different parlours and had four different tattooists (including my regular and most trusted tattooist, Liesje at The Tattooed Heart in Auckland). So I’m not a newbie, though most parlours have their own systems for booking, consultation etc. So when I decided one day to get a quick heart tat on my shoulder I rang the place that most people recommended: Tattoo City.

Here’s how the phone call went:

“Hi, I want to come in and get a really small tat on my shoulder. It probably won’t take long, do I have to make a booking?”

“Yeah you’ll need to come in a talk to a tattooist, they need to look at your skin and talk to you about it, before making a booking”

“Oh, ok. It’s just a small outline so I won’t need a consult but…”

“Just come in”

“Ah cool, when are you open till tonight?”

“6”

“Sweet, I’ll see you before then”

It was an oddly brusque conversation. But even though I’ve been tattooed eight times, I’ve never actually phoned in for an appointment, and I’ve only once done a walk-in (getting some basic stars done on my arm on a whim) and that went simply. So I thought, maybe this is how it works.

Tiny tattoos (simple outlines etc) are a bit like fringe cuts; you can usually just walk in and get them done between other appointments. But it always pays to check with a quick phone call just in case.

With Tattoo City I figured they would just prefer me to come in, rather than talk over the phone, or maybe they thought I wanted something more elaborate than I described. In either case I popped in at 5pm.

I walked up the stairs and in to quite a dark waiting area, where a guy was leafing through portfolios (something you must ALWAYS look through before picking a tattooist for anything significant!). Behind the counter was a bored looking guy texting.

I walked straight to the counter and… nothing. The guy kept texting. He glanced up briefly and said “Hey” and then kept dicking about on his phone. This is the 21st century; I can handle it if you need to send a message. I understand how important the lines of communication are. But you know what? Fuckin just tell me that you’re going to keep texting! I’ll live with it, but dude, you seriously have to acknowledge me and that you aren’t just dicking about. Otherwise I’ll just assume you’re a fuckwit.

So I stood there waiting, until he finished texting and asked me what I was after. I explained about the basic-heart outline I wanted on my shoulder, and asked if there was a time soon when they could fit me in. He said that I needed to make a booking with a tattooist and that none of the tattooists appointment books were in the shop. There was actually a tattooist working at the time, and I’m unsure why I couldn’t have made a quick appointment with him.

The guy then said I should come back on Saturday around midday. I asked for a rough estimate of how much it might cost me. I was told maybe $140 with a minimum of $120. I was a bit shocked by this, given that I knew the minimum in Auckland was lower (though I had never paid it).

Moreover the attitude I encountered was very rude and dismissive. And frankly, don’t tell me to come in and then tell me to come back on another day; that shit is annoying.

“Thanks” I said, not really meaning it, “I’ll be back on Saturday” not meaning that either. “And $140″ more as a reminder to myself. “That’s not a quote!” bellowed the tattooist.

I walked down the stairs and up the street to ALC and into a completely different atmosphere. The store was open and white and bright. The guys were chatty and friendly, asking about my other tats and asking a few quick questions about what I wanted. And they had ALL of their tattooists books, so, you know, they were able to make me a booking.

A ten-minute between-appointment booking, for the same small, simple-line tattoo I had explained twice to Tattoo City, to no avail. I walked out five minutes later with a booking for Sunday afternoon. Simple as. [EDIT – I totally forgot the price. ALC charged me $100, though I think their minimum charge is ~$80]

A friend later made an appointment with ALC (on my recommendation) over the phone. She wanted a simple star with colour and they did the whole thing over the phone (though they did say they usually take a deposit, but flagged it this time).

When I went in on Sunday, they were awesome with the only hiccup being that I had to pay in cash (the ATM is across the street). My tattooist was Chris, and he was fine. We discussed fonts quickly (I got initials inside the heart), I got my small tat; it took the ten minutes I expected it to and I walked out happy as could be.

I’m definitely going to ALC for my next one. I got my heart done at Tattoo City and while I was very happy with the design the process for getting that drawn up was not explained to me at all so the artist came across as rude when I asked him for updates.

After the healing the colour didn’t look that great, so I got it touched up…and I’m still unhappy with it. I know he’d touch it up again for free but I really don’t want to go through that again when I’m expecting a sub standard result from him.

ALC are really upping the game for the tattoo experience in Wellington City. When they first set up, I was a little put off by their behind-the-counter tattooing and seemingly blaze attitute, but my initial doubts have been overcome. Seems like they’ve set up a more private space out the back, that (from the photos I’ve seen) is really clean and tidy (which is one of the big things I look for) and what I took for a blaze attitude is actually genuine friendliness and enthusiasm. Something that can be lacking in a lot of places in Wellington..

I suspect that Tattoo City has been relying for some time on the quality of its artists’ work (which, from what I’ve seen, is very good – but don’t they know it!) and neglecting the customer service side of the experience. I’ve heard this from many people now over the course of a few years. Places like ALC are providing quality tattooing, design AND a friendly atmosphere and it will be interesting to see if places like Tattoo City up their game.

I would never go to Tattoo City – my mum got a tattoo done there and I always felt that she was talked out of what she really wanted because it was “too much work” for the tattooist to make it workable.

I got my first tattoo done at Roger’s after quite a lot of talking around and I was stoked with it. My most recent ones were done by Simon at ALC who is not only a fab guy but also a great artist.

I’ve had two tattoos done by Manu from Jackson Street Tattoo in Petone and I’d always recommend them in Wellington. Especially since they moved into their new premises which, while the entrance is a little hard to find, are really nice. And I’ve never had anything but friendly, attentive service from them.

A friend had recommended Tattoo City based off a recommendation of his not-Wellington-based tattooist but hadn’t been there myself. I’d considered getting them to quote my next tattoo but I guess I’ll be trying ALC instead! the atmosphere of a place really helps, I find.

I got tattooed at Manu, but by my Auckland tattooist so it didn’t count. That’s a pic of it in the post by the way. I thought they had closed, good to hear it was just a relocation. Great tattoo parlour in terms of vibe.

I got my first tattoo at whatever Tattoo City was originally called (Primeval?). Though I was stoked with it then ($100 for an hour’s work), in hindsight, there wasn’t any real discussion and the tat quality wasn’t the greatest. Too busy being cool and alternative.

My next two were at Rogers, where I had a proper discussion both times with Roger himself and got some good quality work. When my kanji tat healed a bit and showed some of the fill had been missed, Roger happily fixed it up for free.

I’ve got to give full points to Manu (at Jackson St Tattoo) for telling me to go away. I went in with a few photos of the sort of thing I was after – he took a look and then told me to go to someone else. “We’ll do it if you want,” he said, “but this guy will do a better job.” Respect.

The tattooist he recommended was Tim Hunt, who’s now running his own studio out in Paekakariki – Pacific Tattoo (http://www.pacifictattoo.co.nz). Clean studio, great designs, beautiful work. He’s done two of my limbs now, and we’re working on a third. Very much recommended if you’re after pacific-style work. Also good to work with someone who takes a break every couple of hours and makes you a cup of tea.

I’m the friend who made the appointment by phone, and they were great. Hadyn was kind enough to come with me, because even with my completely wussy little star, I was pretty nervous. But the guys were great, and made me feel completely comfortable.

I’ve had 2 tats done by Cam at ALC, both before he started working in the shop.

After goin to the NZ Tattoo & Art Festival as their DJ an I can say I fully trust all the artists there with my skin. Even after drunken ideas ’bout o.t.t. tats I was never pressured to get them done, even when still trashed.
This to me is 1 sign of a great tattooist, someone who won’t pressure you to get it done if un-sure. I’ve seen many examples of their work on friends, + randoms(!), an can safely say it’s all been top class. Besides Simon Morse is tattooing there now too – if ya don’t know, look him up!

Thanks for all the supportive comments. Its good to know that the friendly atmosphere we try to create is appreciated.
Not sure who “Chris” is mentioned in the article. Our tattooists are
Simon Morse
Cam Elgar
Ali Reid

I don’t understand why people get tattoos. But I have a theory: tattoo-ees, along with those who get personalised number plates for their cars, are unsubtle, insecure people. They’re either making up for a perceived deficit in personality or they’re putting on show their sense of irony. Or should I say ‘irony’.

ohh i had quite a bad experience at ALC and wouldn’t ever go back there. the guy was a crusty old punk who had quite clearly seen better days. now don’t get me wrong i don’t give a rats what a tattooist look like, but if their general cleanliness isn’t really up to par you’ve gotta wonder how clean the instruments are. he charged me $40 to draw up an image and it was the biggest pile of sh*t. he hadn’t listened to anything i’d asked for and the whole thing just looked really budget. hopefully they’ve upped their game since then. best tattoo was at manu’s, but from auckland tattooist erin chance. she is ace.

Sorry you feel that way possum.
We actually invited a district health nurse to come through our store not to long ago. And she was delighted to see how good our level of hygiene was. “safe as a surgery” she said.
We’re more than happy to fix up your tattoo free of charge. You can check our 3 artists out on our site. And chose which one you would like to have do it.http://www.alcapparel.com

I have had pieces done by multiple artists and im ecstatic with them all. Been to ALC quite a bit and all the guys there are mean clean and dreamy. From char behind the counter to the crusty ol punk ass sitting next to her. Simon and Cam doing amazing work out the back ( i should know, simon did my arm ). I like a bar where the bartender gives you a whiskey without waiting for an order and i like a tattooist that knows your name when you walk in.

I had a bad experience at tattoo city. I’d like to get it removed and re-done. I never noticed that the tattooist had spaced the letters out more (not for breathing space either, they are quite spread out) I would never go there again, and i’ve had 3 at tattoo city and 2 at rogers.

I heard good things about Tim Hunt in Paekakeriki, but when I contacted him about getting my first tattoo he refused because he didn’t like the design. Kind of put me off the process. For a first timer, it can be an intimidating experience. I figure I’ll book in to Manu at some stage. Also heard that Roger’s eyesight ain’t what it used to be. But it’s just hearsay.

Roger’s been out of the game for a long time (a few years!) – He handed his business over to Tommy and Tommy has kept everything original – the only thing that’s changed is Tommy’s style is different to Rogers.

I hear EXCELLENT things about Tattoo New Zealand in Mana. I’m going to do my next there, a check through their catalogue shows that they are magnificent at geometric work and their hourly rate is $100 which is bloody cheap. I’ve had my other three done by Dean at Soul Graffiti in Wanganui. He’s a good artist but his loose style doesn’t lend itself well to very synthetic-looking geometric designs. My dad got a huge tattoo at Tim Hunt who is excellent – he has major credentials so maybe if he rejected your design its because it was shit!

I am from Australia living in new zealand for a few years and have decided to get a tattoo along my ribs. I am after a really really detailed tattoo of a lion. black shaded and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions where to go?

I got a big colourful backpiece designed and tattooed at Tattoo City over a year ago. The artist who did the work (Kyle) was brilliant and I’m very happy with it. He has since left Tattoo City and opened his own studio in the Grand Arcade – the shop George Janis hairdressing used to be in. I think it’s called Sinatras. Check it out if you’re looking.
Just on a side note, I understand that both Manu (in Petone) and Dan (in Parameta) started off at Tattoo City.

I went into tattoo city yesterday just to get my nose pierced again and i got really bad customer service!! I will never go there again and ive made sure ive let a few friends that get regular ink done NOT to go there my nose costd 60$ which i know should be around the 40$ mark and i heard him quote an ear piercing at 100$… A lil over the top if u ask me.. In the end i wantd to leave as fast as i could

hey there, have you checked out ninja flower for piercing?? if you havnt yet already I highly recommend them! Scott there is super cool , personable dude who is calm ,looks you in the eye when he talks to you, is down to earth, knows his shit, and gives fantastic service! they are a lil more expensive by comparison, but the service outways any piercing studio ive ever experienced! they have pretty wicked jewellery there too! I usually take ages to heal after a piercing , but after I went to Ninjaflower I healed up real quick ,they are really clean, the place has a fresh feel and the products they use are super top quality. oh and all piercing is by hand no clamps etc. peace x

Yeah, didn’t like the attitude at Tattoo City myself, and if you look through their books, it’s all the most generic crappy flash you can imagine, plenty of it copyrighted material where it was far from clear they were permitted to use (I mean, sure there’s not much you can do with a heart, but DRAW YOUR OWN).

Maybe they do do original work, but if they can’t be bothered putting it out there, I’m not going to be bothered asking them to come up with a custom design for me.

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Agree I got my last tattoo at ALC – because I came across this page when I googled Wellington Tattoo. Very happy with the work done by Cam – a small simple lettering tattoo & although I have a number of tattoo and ta moko and knew what I was in for he still took the time to explain each step in the process & why he was doing certain things. I would not hesitate to go back there again I have also been tattooed by Manu and found him very good as well.

After reading this article and really based alot on your recommendation I went in to ALC for my first tattoo. I got Cam and the whole thing was awesome, he was so friendly and chilled out, which made me really relaxed too. The tattoo was on my ribs and he took it gentle for the first little bit which was really thoughtful. I’m now booked in for my second (and substantially larger) tattoo, again with Cam at ALC and I can’t wait! I HIGHLY recommend these guys, they’re genuinely friendly and love what they do – and are good at it!

My name is Dylan, I am a tattoo artist working at Tattoo City, after reading some of the comments posted in this thread I am appalled at what I have read! I try to give everybody that comes into the shop the time to talk with me regarding their ideas and queries and in a professional manor, we have recently had a major restaffing and our artists are top notch without the big ego! We have lots of original artwork around the shop, it is bright and spacious.

Our minimum charge is $130 which is fair when you break down the costs to do a proffesional tattoo, we guarantee your safety and would never do anything to jeopardise you or the industry.
We also have a new sterilisation room for the sole benefit of cross contamination standards for your safety.

With all that said I can only apologise again for how you feel you were wrongly treated and if you are interested in coming by please do!

On a further note we do not take bookings over the phone as there are a lot of time wasters out there! (consultation with your artist is always best so you get the best result)

Apologising for ‘how you feel you were wrongly treated’ is not apologising at all. Good PR means taking responsibility for customers’ bad experiences, not putting it back on them for ‘feeling’ that their experiences were bad.

Hey, I’m an ex-wellintonian living in Aussie but looking for a tattoo artist to design me something fairly traditional, can any of you lovely ppl recommend anyone? Ive been reading your comments but not sure these guys are doing any traditional stuff.

ALC Headquarters is by far one of the best tattoo studios I have been to in wellington and the most hygenic one too.

They have two tattooists and if you join their facebook page you get to hear about other tattooists that travel from all over the world to tattoo in their studio.

And they just got a new tattooist from London who has tattooed all over the world, his name is Craigy and he is not only an amazing tattooist he’s also pretty cool and helped me get the tattoo I wanted, I went in with an idea and he listened to me, showed me some pictures then drew up exactly what I wanted. It looks just as amazing now as it did when he first did it.

And the guy working on the front desk even helped me with directions to the best local bars, awesome service

wellington hasn’t been well known for awesome tattoo shops, but that is slowly changing, these are the best in the city:
manu -jackson st tattoo
tattoo freaky in the hutt
craigy -Alc headquarters
gil- tattoo machine

TATTOO CITY, cuba street, Wellington, is APPALLING. They can keep my $40 deposit (money I don’t have, being a student) because I would rather lose a week’s pay than entrust them to do my tattoo. Their service is absolutely disgusting. I have never been treated like that by any business in NZ. How can you trust their work if they (Andre more specifically) act like doing your tattoo is a chore. showing zero enthusiasm and zero flexibility in changing an appointment time (despite having an entire day was pretty much free of appointments) is absolutely shocking. i DO NOT RECOMMEND this tattooist or tattoo parlour.

I have walked into most of the main tattoo studios in Welly , in search of someone who will ” listen to my ideas, collaborate openly and non judgmentally with me on my these and be personable (without the arrogance and cocky nature most tat studios that I have experienced, hold.)

I too have had less than ideal service, from tattoo city (hence why I didn’t go there to get work , lucky for me a friend got a half sleeve, which I liked the look of and recommended me to her friend who had begun an aprenticship at the time. It was through word of mouth was what lead me to finding the right tattooist. Tim has his own studio now and is a couple of years into his tattooing career, at the time he was on Dixon street at tattoo machine but now runs his own gig out in new town.
I like Tims down to earth nature, his studio is urban looking with a cool relaxed feel and he is a pretty decent human (not so arrogant and cocky ) like I have found most tattooists to be.

Tim designed my piece after I threw a heap of ideas pictures and words his way, he came up with two choices I picked the lata and a year and a half later three sittings later I know have a 98% finished arm piece which im very happy with!

I would recommend Tim Gau to anyone who wants a humble down to earth tattoo experience, someone who will listen to your wants , give you advice on what could be avoided with something that might not look so good(but without being a dick about it.)for someone who would rather be tattooed in a more personal setting and not in an intrusive environment like studios can be – people walking in and out – interrupting or looking over the artists shoulder to have a geez ( after all the tattoo process is an intimate one- being inked for life is pretty special) check him out on FB I guess or look him up online

I have been getting tattooed for a wee while i have a couple of sleeves, and the best way to find tattoo artists is by word of mouth.

The best artists in wellington i have found with really mind blowing realism, clean lines killer shading and overall the best in the biz. tattoos that look like you were born with them and of course nice people to sit with for hours on end.
Kyle Dyhdberg – Sinatras (best tattooist in my opinion)
Gil – Tattoo machine
jackson street tattoos are solid dudes also.
hadees – tattoohadees
Tattoo city have good artists, but terrible customer service
Alc is decent but not the best

if your paying around $700+ per day session its most likely gonna be killer work.

Hey Just wondering if people have any word on Six Coffins?
Looking to get some work done and a couple of mates have had a few of their tattoo’s done there. they look really good. Just wondering what everyone else thinks.??
Great thread.

Tattoo City are a weird sort. I’d gotten a sleeve started with another tattooist somewhere else, and thought I’d go into Tattoo City to see if someone there could try save the tattoo, and the guy I ended up with did exactly that. I’d always heard good things about the artists work, and that certainly lived up to the expectation. That tattooist ended up leaving so I kinda followed him to where he moved to and continued to see him till the sleeves completion. Since then I went back to Tattoo city to get a small simple tattoo of the Red Hot Chili Peppers asterisks logo, and the whole time I was getting it done the “receptionist” who is apparently the piercer there too was saying things like “how do you feel about how the Chili Peppers have gotten increasingly more terrible as they keep going?”, and making little jabs about how he would never get a tattoo of a band he likes, because what if they start sucking like Chili Peppers did for him. Even after explaining why I don’t agree with him and how personal the tattoo is to me, he would just say things like “but they suck”.

Now I’m all for people having different tastes and opinions, but if I’m paying money to get a tattoo of something that is actually of great importance to me, not just a silly image of a band I like, you’d think it would be expected that the staff don’t insult me for getting it, and trying to talk me out of it. It’s my choice isn’t it?

I haven’t been back there since, but I’m thinking about getting my next tattoo and it sounds like ALC is the place to go.